Air/hydraulic injection lubrication unit

ABSTRACT

The present invention is an air/hydraulic injection lubrication unit. The present invention is embodied in a handheld lubrication system conveniently transported in a carrying case. A frame provides a base on which the system components are mounted. The system components include a lubricant barrel assembly in conjunction with a cradle assembly and an air/hydraulic pressure pump removably-mounted upon the frame. A hose assembly at one end is releaseably fastened to the discharge end of the lubricant barrel assembly. When the air/hydraulic pressure pump is activated, the lubricant or other material in the lubricant barrel is forced out of the hose assembly through a lubricant discharge unit located at the opposing end of the hose assembly.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to lubrication equipment. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to air/hydraulic injectionlubrication guns. Air/Hydraulic injection guns are used for injectingmaterials into valves and pumps at a fast controlled discharge rate. Thepresent invention provides a uniquely designed portable lightweightinjection gun with a carrying frame unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the portable handheld lubrication systemin an upright position

FIG. 2 is a top view of the frame.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the cradle assembly, shown in conjunctionwith the frame and lubricant barrel assembly.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the lubricant barrel assembly.

FIG. 5 is the top view of the carrying case.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the present invention to provide a rugged, easyoperating, light weight unit with an extremely fast discharge rate.

It is another object of the present invention to provide the capabilityof pumping standard and special materials including highly viscouslubricants, packing, sealants and cleaners.

The present invention is embodied in a handheld lubrication systemconveniently transported in a carrying case. A frame provides a base onwhich the system components are mounted. The major system componentsinclude a lubricant barrel assembly, a cradle assembly and anair/hydraulic pressure pump removably mounted upon the frame. A hoseassembly at one end is releaseably fastened to the discharge end of thelubricant barrel. When the air/hydraulic pressure pump is activated, thematerial in the lubricant barrel is forced out of the hose assemblythrough a lubricant discharge unit located at the opposing end of thehose assembly.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description when viewed inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, which set forth certainembodiments of the invention.

DETAILED SPECIFICATIONS

The detailed embodiment of the present invention is disclosed herein.The disclosed embodiment is not to be interpreted as limited, but merelyas a basis for teaching one skilled in the art to make and/or use thepresent invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 the present invention, lubrication system1, comprise a supporting back frame (37) supporting an air/hydraulicpump (15) and lubricant barrel assembly (20)—held in place by a cradleassembly (10). The air/hydraulic pump (15) and the lubricant barrelassembly (20), along with the supporting hose assembly (25) andconnection hardware, work together side by side in a parallel fashion.Air/hydraulic pump (15) is securely and removably fastened to thesupporting back frame (37). The lubricant barrel assembly (20) issecurely and removably fastened to the cradle assembly (10). The cradleassembly (10) is securely and removably fastened to the supporting backframe (37). The unit comprises five major components: an all aluminumframe, a 10,000 PSI air/hydraulic pump, a “K” * lubricant assemblybarrel, a discharge hose assembly, and a carrying case. TheAir/hydraulic pump (15) and lubricant barrel assembly (20) work togetherin a parallel fashion upon the supporting back frame (37). * Note: Thedescription, “K” lubricant barrel assembly is interchangeable. See yourpage 4.0015

The supporting back frame (37) is uniquely designed to support thelubricant barrel assembly (20) in conjunction with the cradle assembly(10) and the air/hydraulic pump (15) as shown in FIG. 1. Supporting backframe (37) further includes a charging base (30), supporting back frame(37) and a carrying handle. Charging base (30) is a rectangular flatplane platform with an opening on one side to support the mounting of anair/hydraulic pump (15) onto supporting back frame (37). Charging base30 is further defined by a front peripheral edge 50 and back peripheraledge 52.

In the preferred embodiment as depicted in FIG. 2, back frame (37) is aflat substantially rectangular platform peripherally surrounded bytubular member 31. However, the charging base 30 is not limited by thesedimensions. An upper bracket (40) and lower bracket member (45) aresecured parallel and horizontally across supporting back frame (37).* Asdepicted, supporting back frame (37), perpendicularly aligned andaffixed to back peripheral edge 52 of charging base (30) and extendinglinearly upward therefrom. * Supporting back frame (37) is not limitedto the type of materials it is manufactured with, nor is the shape orsize limited. The colors and/or color combinations can vary.

The air/hydraulic pump (15) and lubricant barrel assembly (20) as shownin FIG. 1 can be various brands, models or sizes. The barrel can rangein size from 4″ up to 30″ in length, but is not limited by thesedimensions. The colors and/or color combinations can vary.

The lubricant barrel assembly (20) can also be described as a container,injector, material holder, reservoir, sealant barrel, etc. This item canbe any shape, size, or made out of varying materials. It can accommodategreases, oils, lubricants, cleaners, solvents, packing, sealants, orother types of material that are commonly or specially pumped intovales, pumps, or other machinery or systems, etc.

In FIG. 4, there is shown the internal structure of the lubricant barrelassembly 20. As depicted in FIG. 4, lubricant barrel assembly 20 has aninternal bore dissected into an upper chamber 22 and a lower chamber 24.Piston assembly 30 is situated between upper chamber 22 and lowerchamber 24. Upper chamber 22 forms a chamber for receiving the lubricantor other material and the lower chamber 24 forms a chamber for receivingthe hydraulic fluid from the air/hydraulic pump 15 (shown in FIG. 1).

Upper end 22 further includes upper cap member 32 in threaded engagementwith the top end of upper end 22. Lower end 24 includes lower cap member34 in threaded engagement with the lower end of lower chamber 24. Uppercap member 32 is removably coupled to discharge hose assembly 25 shownin FIG. 1 and lower cap member 34 is removeably coupled to theair/hydraulic pump as shown in FIG. 1. Both upper cap member 32 andlower cap member 34 can be respectively removed from upper end 22 andlower end 24.

Lower chamber 24 is in fluid communication with air/hydraulic pump 15shown in FIG. 1 through coupling 64 attached to lower cap member 34.Upper chamber 22 is removably coupled to discharge hose assembly 25 andis adapted to receive lubricant material therein. As hydraulic fluid ispumped into lower chamber 24, the piston assembly 33 is pushed upwardforcing the lubricant or other material into and through discharge hoseassembly 25 shown in FIG. 1. As the hydraulic fluid is forced in and outof lower chamber 24, piston assembly 33 float upward and downward,respectively, thereby allowing more lubricant material to be insertedinto upper chamber 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, carrying handle 35 comprises a curved portion 39extending into an elongated linear portion 38. The elongated linearportion 38 extends downward to the front peripheral edge 50 of thecharging base 30 and is permanently affixed thereto. Curved portion 39extends upward to the top edge of the back frame 37 and is permanentlyaffixed thereto.

As shown in FIG. 3, cradle assembly 10 is uniquely designed with bracketassemblies for supporting the attachment of lubricant barrel assembly 20thereto. Upper coupler member (60, 62) and lower coupler member (70, 72)are specifically designed to retain the lubricant barrel assembly 20 tocradle assembly. Upper coupler member (60, 62) and lower coupler member(70, 72) are respectively connected to the upper bracket member and thelower bracket member. Each coupler member is segmented with a frontsection (60, 70) and a back section (62, 72) with an opening adapted toencircle lubricant barrel 20.

While not in use, the portable lubrication unit 1 shown in FIG. 1, canbe conveniently stored in carrying case 100 shown in FIG. 5. Carryingcase 100 has a suit case-type configuration dimensioned to storelubrication unit 1 in a horizontal position. The carrying case 100 havea cover hingedly connected to a bottom compartment. Surrounding thebottom compartment are a plurality of sidewalls interconnected to form acontainer with a enough depth dimensioned to support and encompass theassembled system components in a horizontal position.

In operation, lubrication unit 1 is removed from carrying case 100illustrated in FIG. 5. The air/hydraulic injection lubrication unit canbe easily maneuvered from standing in an upright vertical position oncharging base 30 into a horizontal position lying on supporting backframe 37 as shown in FIG. 1. By placing the unit on charging base 30 inthe vertical position, the operator can easily load material intolubricant barrel assembly 20 into upper chamber 22 illustrated in FIG.4. A hose assembly 25 at one end is releaseably coupled to the dischargeend 32 of the lubricant barrel assembly 20. When the air/hydraulicpressure pump 15 is activated, the lubricant material in the lubricantbarrel assembly 20 is forced out of the hose assembly 25 through adischarge unit 66 located at the opposing end of the hose assembly 25.The discharge unit 66 is used for lubricating material components suchas valves, pumps, seals and other similar components requiringlubrication.

1. A portable handheld lubrication system with a plurality of assembledsystem components designed to lubricate valves or and other materialcomponents, the lubrication system comprising: a charging base, asupporting back frame and a carrying handle; a lubricant barrelassembly, and an air/hydraulic pump mounted upon the charging base in aparallel upright fashion; the charging base having flat planar platformdefined by a front peripheral edge and back peripheral edge; thesupporting back frame having a flat substantially rectangular platformperpendicularly aligned and affixed to the back peripheral edge of thecharging base and extending linearly upward therefrom; an upper bracketassembly and a lower bracket assembly forming a cradle that provides ameans for retaining the lubricant barrel assembly in an upright positionaligned adjacent to and parallel to the air/hydraulic pump; the upperbracket assembly and the lower bracket assembly being affixed parallelto each other and being affixed horizontally across the supporting backframe at an intermediate position. the carrying handle defined by acurved portion extending into an elongated linear portion; the elongatedlinear portion extending downward to a predetermined location on thefront peripheral edge of the charging base and being permanently affixedand mounted thereto; the curved portion extending upward to apredetermined position on the supporting back frame and beingpermanently affixed and mounted thereto;
 2. The lubrication system ofclaim 1 wherein the lubrication barrel assembly further comprises; ahose assembly having a means for dispensing the lubricant materialtherefrom; a hollow cylinder barrel dissected into an upper chamber andlower chamber with a floating piston assembly therebetween; the upperchamber adapted to receive a lubricant material therein; the upperchamber being releasbly coupled to a hose assembly; the lower chamber influid communication with the air/hydraulic pump for receiving hydraulicfluid therein such than when the air/hydraulic pump is activated thepiston assembly is pushed upward forcing the lubricant material into thehose assembly.
 3. The lubrication system of claim 1 further comprising:a carrying case having a cover hingedly connected to a bottomcompartment; the bottom compartment surrounded by a plurality ofsidewalls; and the bottom compartment having a depth dimensioned tosupport and encompass the assembled system components in a horizontalposition.
 4. The lubrication system of claim 1 wherein the supportingback frame further comprises a tubular member peripherally surroundingan outer edge of the supporting back frame.